Hello, everyone! Purin is back!

Purin: "Well, after all my spare time taken and some stresses along the way... I finally finished all my exams! My scores weren't that high but my parents said that a little rise from my last flunky grades was already good enough. I am totally relieved!"

Pumpbie: "So, now it's story time again, right?"

Purin: "That's right! Because my parents didn't kill me or take away my right to play internet, I can continue on my stories!"

Pumpbie: "They'd do that?"

Purin: *shrug* "I don't know, maybe."

Please enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 11

Ed's eye twitched slightly, his expression hard and his breath held in his lungs. He glanced towards Winry and nodded, "I'm ready."

She nodded and glanced down, "One…"

"Two…" Pinako counted along.

"Three," the two said simultaneously.

Ed stiffened as the unbearable pain surge through for a moment before disappearing again. He sighed and leaned back, "I hate it when you connect the nerves…"

Winry shook her head lightly, "You should be able to handle something like that by now."

"Yeah, guess so…" he said with a nod. "But what I'm going to point out now is," he glanced back and narrowed his eyes; a vein appeared by his forehead, "what the hell are you doing here, Alice?"

The girl was sitting on a nearby chair, a camera in her hands. She smiled for a moment before smirking, "Oh, don't be like that, Edward. You know I mean well…" she looked away and grinned, "That and it's quite a rare opportunity to see something as amusing as you in pain like that."

Ed growled before glancing towards his childhood friend, "And exactly why did you let her in here?"

Winry giggled and waved her finger in a circle, "Well, she did tell me that she was here for research. Something like this is worth her writing, right? That and I am completely on her side in this case," she replied proudly with a slight smirk.

Ed sighed deeply, "Great, now I've got two pains to deal with." He glanced towards a smirking Alice before looking away, his face paler, "And one of them is free to follow me back to Central…"

Ed glanced out the train window and saw Marcoh still talking with Alice. Seth was already inside, along with Alex, returned after his trip to place Al back in the train.

Alice narrowed his eyes, "What do you want from me, doctor?"

Marcoh clenched his hands and gritted his teeth. "Don't pretend like you don't know anything, girl." He narrowed his eyes, "Where is it? Where did you hide your father's research files and his pocket watch?"

Alice scoffed and looked away, "In case you missed the news, my father is dead and left nothing behind to me or my brother." She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, "He died, and we couldn't even burry him afterwards. His research is gone, along with him and his memories."

Marcoh was stunned by the girl's answer, "But that's not… How can you forget him so easily?"

The girl held back the pain growing in her chest as she forced her voice to speak the words, "Something happened. I don't even remember what my parents looks like anymore…" She glanced towards the man with the darkest look she could pull off, "In addition, his pocket watch was destroyed during the transmutation, which you should also know, doctor."

The man gulped. Alice turned her back towards the man, "My father is gone, that's that. And I no longer have the interest to find out what kind of man he truly was."

"If that's true…" Marcoh narrowed his eyes, "Why did you and your brother joined the army?"

She shrugged, "It was necessary for survival."

"…You're not going to tell that Fullmetal boy the truth?"

"I might consider it."

"And… Why do you still need to cover your left eye?" Alice stopped in her tracks and stiffened at the man's question. Marcoh narrowed his eyes dangerously, knowing he's hit the bull's eye, "Surely after all this time, you managed to find the truth your father was keeping."

Her mouth turned dry and her voice was caught in her throat. She gulped and narrowed her eyes, "…No. As a matter of fact, I didn't."

Alice stopped her hand and looked up towards the window, her gaze softening, "The truth, huh? I still don't know what it means…"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Alice, may I come in?" Al's soft voice rang from the other side of the door.

Alice glanced back and smiled softly, "Sure."

The door clicked open and the suite of armor walked in, he was fully repaired and able to move freely by now. He closed the door behind him before walking towards the girl, stopping only a couple of feet away from the girl, "I'm surprised you're still up. Aren't you sleepy?"

Alice hummed before rubbing her eyes, "A little, now that you've mentioned it."

He chuckled lightly, catching the girl's attention. "What?" she asked, her eyes were starting to flutter close. Her eye lids were turning heavier as a yawn escaped her lips.

He shook his head, "No, it's nothing at all."

Alice furrowed her eyebrows, "Al, can I ask you something? I think it's a bit personal, though."

Al hummed, "Well, I guess it's alright."

The girl nodded with a smile. "Tell me something… When we first arrived, I saw some ruins of a burned house not far from here." Al stiffened, something Alice clearly noticed but chose to ignore, "Would you mind telling me, what building use to be there?"

Silence fell between the two. Al clanked slightly before he finally found his voice, "It was…" he clenched his hands and looked away from the girl, "…It used to be our home."

Alice's gaze softened as she nodded, "I see…" She furrowed her eyebrows, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to remind you of any unpleasant memories."

Al shook his head lightly, "No, it's fine. I'm kind of used to it all now."

Alice narrowed her eyes, "Alright, if you say so." 'Used to what exactly?'

"...So, was Winry's pie good?"

"Very! Maybe I can ask her for some to take back to Central."

The Next Day

Alice clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. After a moment or so, she reopened them and gazed at the gravestone in front of her. The name was carved perfectly along with the date of death and birth, Trisha Elric.

The day was still early and the sun hasn't even rise yet. They were heading back to Central that day. She heard about the two brother's past from Al last night, though he didn't really open up that much, something she couldn't blame him for doing in the first place.

She smiled, "Guess I shouldn't be here at all, should I?"

"No, you shouldn't," a voice replied.

Alice wasn't surprised nor was she concerned to the boy that decided to kneel down next to her. She smirked, "Well then, what are you doing here, Seth?"

Seth sighed and placed his hand on top of the stone. He smiled and admired the rough surface of the rock, though it somehow felt soft at the same time, "Looking for someone," he answered simply. He glanced towards his sister as his gaze softened, "What about you?"

She nodded, "Same reason."

"Is the person here yet?"

Alice raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at her brother. He wasn't looking at her, but she could see the hardened gaze kept in the boy's forest green orbs. She hummed slightly before looking down to her lap, where a bouquet of flower rests. Her gaze softened, "No, if the person was here... I can think of a couple names that would get stunned."

Alice placed the bouquet down. She placed her hands on the ground where Ed's mother has been buried.

…

…

…

Alice raised her eyebrows slightly and widened her eyes, her expression showing as if she's just seen the dead rise from the ground or something worse.

Seth paid no attention to the girl before standing up and turning around, walking away. Alice took a deep breath and pulled back her hands, her now shivering hands. She brought a hand up to her chest and gripped her shirt tightly, 'Who was… Who was buried under this ground?'

Later in the Train

Ed sighed and crossed his hands behind his head, leaning comfortably on the chair. He smiled, "We're finally heading back to Central."

Alice, who was sitting next to the boy, scoffed, "You just want to get those damn researches Marcoh told you about, right?"

Ed glanced at the girl from the corner of his eyes and smirked, "You are smart."

Alice yawned and rubbed her eyes. She cursed, 'Damn it… I stayed up too late last night after talking with Al…'

"Sleepy?" she glanced to the side and saw Ed looking at her with a questioning gaze. He furrowed his eyebrows, "Did you even sleep at all?" He brought a finger up and pointed towards the girl's face, "There are bags under your eyes."

Alice grunted and looked away, "That's none of your business, Edward."

"Okay, okay, no need to get all touchy," Ed replied lightly.

He glanced down towards his palm and narrowed his eyes, '…Marcoh's research files…'

"Perhaps you can find the truth within the truth."

Ed clenched his hands and grunted, 'What did he mean by that? Why does everyone involved in the Philosopher Stone like to tell riddle so much?'

He widened his eyes when he felt a slight tug on his shoulder. He glanced to the side and saw the extra weight that decided to lean on him, Alice. The girl must've been really exhausted, she was already knocked out cold, and she didn't even seem like she realized that she fell asleep.

Ed narrowed his eyes before scrunching away, only to have the girl lean closer to him. He sighed, 'Damn it…' He looked to the opposite side and saw no one else around. He glanced towards the girl again before softening his gaze. After admitting defeat, he decided to just let the girl sleep, plus he wouldn't even want to know if she just happens to be very cranky when woken up against her will.

Alice smiled slightly in her sleep and gripped Ed's sleeve, you can only imagine how surprised the boy was. "…Daddy…" she mumbled.

Ed widened his eyes when he heard her. The way she was at the moment, she looked like any normal girl. Her sleeping face made her look more like a child and a lot more vulnerable, how wrong that would be. Ed sighed and looked away, "She'd definitely kill me if I tell her about this."

Pumpbie: "Don't you think you made her act like a little kid saying 'daddy' like that?"

Purin: "Well, yeah, a bit... But I ran out of ideas and when I wrote this my head was swirly, literally! My hair looked like a crow's nest..."

Pumpbie: "Okay... And you're setting their first fluff as the whole 'sleeping girl leaning on the boy' thing? I thought you said it was going to be after their fight again."

Purin: *shrug* "I wanted to. But that's still too long from now and it'll be as if the romance didn't progress at all..."

Pumpbie: "Oh, yeah... There is that."

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